Panama is the Happiest Country, 2nd Year in a Row!

Why Panamanians are so happy

I don’t post a lot but I thought this was worth the time to pound the drum. Long story short is that Panamanians have a “Positive Outlook”. That to me is SO important!

A woman wearing a traditional “pollera” -big one-piece skirt- takes part in a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the declaration of the Panamanian indenpendence in Chorrera, 30 km from Panama City on November 10, 2014. Panama will celebrate 193 years from its independence from Spain next November 28. AFP PHOTO / Rodrigo ARANGUA (Photo credit should read RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images)

I remember listening to a motivational tape that stressed “DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH NEGATIVE PEOPLES”,  English wasn’t the speaker’s first language but it made the phrase unforgettable to me.

Wondered exactly why I feel so good here in Panama. Being around folks with Positive Outlooks is a BiG reason why!

later,

j

 

 

Good site for David weather information

Found a site that answers many weather related questions one might have about David like “what’s the average temperature, humidity or rainfall”.

I like the layout better on the site but I cut and pasted it here for quick reference.                                David weather

MONTHLY – WEATHER AVERAGES SUMMARY   [ Show All Data ]

[ °C ]   °F

Average Temperature

Years on Record: 47

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
F		80.7		80.5		82.1		83.3		82.9		81.3		80.6		80.3		80.1		79.8		79.3		79.3		79.6

Average High Temperature

Years on Record: 47

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
F		96.1		98.2		99.1		99.5		100.4		97.5		96.1		95.7		94.1		92.1		91.8		93.2		95.4

Average Low Temperature

Years on Record: 47

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
F		65.4		61.7		63.5		64		67.1		68.9		68.9		67.6		62.6		65.3		68		64.4		62.6

Average Precipitation

Years on Record: 10

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
in.		100.7		1.1		0.9		1.7		3.8		11.3		13.7		9.2		13.1		17.1		14.1		11.6		2.5

Highest Recorded Temperature

Years on Record: 20

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
F		104		100		102		102		102		104		102		95		98		90		94		93		95

Lowest Recorded Temperature

Years on Record: 20

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
F		64		64		65		64		68		70		68		68		68		70		68		68		66

Average Length of Day

Years on Record: 30

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
Hours		12.5		12.1		12.2		12.4		12.7		12.9		13		12.9		12.7		12.5		12.3		12.1		12

Most Rain Reported in a Month

Years on Record: 47

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
in.		27.6		6.9		3.6		6.3		11.4		23.5		24.2		23.6		21.5		27.6		26.8		24.8		10.7

Average Relative Humidity

Years on Record: 47

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
%		75.7		67.7		62.6		62.4		69.6		79.5		81.1		80.5		81.1		82.1		83.8		82.8		75.5

Average Morning Relative Humidity

Years on Record: 14

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
%		93		89		85		83		89		94		96		96		96		97		97		97		94

Average Evening Relative Humidity

Years on Record: 14

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
%		72		60		56		60		66		75		77		77		78		80		82		78		69

Average Dew Point

Years on Record: 9

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
F		73		71		70		71		73		74		74		74		74		74		74		74		72

Average Wind Speed

Years on Record: 47

		ANNUAL		JAN		FEB		MAR		APR		MAY		JUN		JUL		AUG		SEP		OCT		NOV		DEC
mph		4.4		5.4		6.5		6.2		4.9		3.9		3.6		3.6		3.7		3.8		3.9		3.6		4.1

Video of Ed Horna- Rental Property Available in David/Boquete

Ed wanted to make a new video since the old one was two years old and I’m making it available here. DO NOT CONTACT ME (JOEL), contact Ed (Eduardo Horna riochiriqui@gmail.com 507-6567-1127, 507-6757-0005 ) for any and all rental/purchase questions.

Special thanks go to Kris for the camera work and uploading to Youtube!

 

Contact information: Eduardo Horna riochiriqui@gmail.com

507-6567-1127 507-6757-0005

AGAIN, PLEASE CONTACT ED, NOT ME!!!!!!!!

 Later,

j

I Posted to a great site, Boquete Ning to help Ometepe Donations

First, a little background……..

Kris and I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Ometepe,Nicaragua, an island in the middle of a huge lake with two volcanoes. For three weeks we house sat for a fellow blogger, Deb Goehring of http://retirenicaragua.wordpress.com/. We hit it off with Deb and her husband Ron and had a lovely time staying in their home, exploring the island and meeting all sorts of friendly islanders. We had a great time on that peaceful island and will be returning in late November after a house sitting gig in Granada.

Now, here is the reason I’m posting to ning. I get a lot more views on my blog when I post here. I’m NOT posting to promote IT, but to try to get the word out that a disaster has hit Ometepe since we left and the folks there need some help.

Heavy rains cause multiple problems, mudslides that blocked roads, killed farm animals, ruined crops in the fields, and damaged homes. Not JUST mud and water, but rocks, some quite large, some almost the size of my Hyundai Atos.  Oh, and a few days later the island felt the rumble of a large earthquake. I won’t go into more detail, Deb spells it out on her blog if you go there.

I’m here to let everyone know of a site or two where it is easy to help out with a donation.

ANY amount you care to give will go a long way on this island where a worker is lucky to make $4 (YES, FOUR US dollars a DAY, or $10 if they are skilled).

The first aids the town of Los Ramos. They were hit REALLY hard with a lot of mud, water and rocks, the town is a mess.   

http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/help-los-ramos-rebuild/248011

The second site is Puesta de Sol, they had a lot of damage there. Kris and I became friends with many of the folks there and are happy to spread the word to help them. The site is in Spanish and English.  DONAR goes right to the PayPal site which is in English. http://puestadelsol.org/donations.php

There it is, my little plea that you will consider helping these kind folks. When Deb asked what they needed at Los Ramos, a guy replied “Candles and food”. Pretty simple request, I’d say.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I’ll copy it and paste it to a post on my blog.

Many Thanks in Advance,

Joel and Kris Cunningham

 

Services offered to Expats in Boquete/David Area

We rent a house here in David and pay the rent to the owner’s agent and now my friend Ed Horna  On his last visit we sat down and he ran by me some ideas he had to help the expats,both  new arrivals and established ones, with things as simple as translations to providing tours of the area. I thought Ed had a great idea and said I’d be happy to help him.

Wow- the idea of having a Panamanian who spoke good English and Spanish and who would accompany me, translating and explaining things sounded like a dream! I suggested he look into providing rides to and from the David airport for folks who like having a reliable, English-speaking driver. We tossed around some other ideas and Ed came up with some services and pricing. I’m happy to help spread the word that now you have someone here in the David/Boquete area to help navigate the new world that is Panama.

I think his business idea is solid and sure that once people hear about it they will see the value of the services offered. Ed is a great guy and I know he will do his best to help the expat. Ed is Panamanian but spent 10 years in the states, in Washington, learned English and is now back in Panama working with his lawyer wife selling homes and servicing rentals. It is a cliche, this is only the tip of the iceberg, Ed can REALLY help you out in so many ways but this is a good starting place.  Here is his email below:

 

Hey Joel ,

This is what I was thinking …..

To be able to help and give out better services to the expat I am
offering these services:
 
Full tour of the city of David/Boquete, up 2 people, 10.00 extra for each person, max 4 people, 75.00 per day.

Included are: All type of advice on how to do things here, where to go, where to shop, what hospital to go, etc , etc .

Of course if someone wants my services for several days we can make a package or special price .

AIRPORT RIDES :  55.00 to the airport (Boquete – David or David- Boquete) up to 2 people .

with 48 hrs notice will be nice .

TOURS :  Boquete , Cerro Punta , Caldera Hot Spring , Las Lajas beach or any place they want to go in the Chiriqui Provincia will be 95.00 up 2 people for one day, 10.00 extra per each person, up to 4 people max .

Again, that will included all advance questions and answers.

TRANSLATOR :  If some one needs assistance with getting their cable or internet hook up, medical appointment or shopping and their Spanish is not so good ……………….15.00 per hour .

PARALEGAL : Having a wife who is an Attorney you learn a lot through the years, we can do just about any legal services and consulting , (Corporations , Immigration , Law suits , Title process, etc , etc )

Any more info please let me know ,

Thanks so much ,

Ed

————————–

As always, i you have any questions for Ed don’t contact me,

contact Ed at Río Chiriquí <riochiriqui@gmail.com>;

Later,

j

 

Home For Sale, 20 Minutes from David

My friend and the guy who has houses for sale and for rent (Eduardo Horna) asked me to post info on a house he has the listing on.

Hey Joe ,

You wont not believe the property I just got in my hands to sell …:

Beautiful 2 brm house built by Canadians in a 2.5 acre only 20 min from David.

Asking Price is 159,000. Fully furnished, paved road and every thing .

Check it out , if you don’t mind put it up in your blog, maybe ?

This is a deal , here is the link ,House for sale

Ed Horna

—————————————————————-

Joel here-I don’t know anything about it except what Ed said in the email and what I see in the photos and it does look nice. Contact Ed NOT me for more info. His email address is:  Río Chiriquí <riochiriqui@gmail.com>

 

 

How should I go about finding the right place for me in Panama?

I get some “what/how/where” type of questions and Kris get MANY on her blog. I’ve explained before but rather than repeating I think I’ve got a way that folks can get more suggestions in one place.

Oh, and you will never see a scene like below here in Panama 🙂

Chris is a blogger friend in Panama City and wrote a good post that is pretty helpful for folks who are wondering where the best place for them. Also included is a list of Panama bloggers and many describe how they approached the decision making process. Here is the link to Chris Power’s Blog.

Later,

j

Great steaks in David-Su Carne re-visited

Dropped by Su Carne which I mentioned in an earlier post and got some stew beef and 2 rib eyes. The rib eyes had increased from $4.25 lb to $4.50 lb due to the new wage law but the quality of the steak was worth the small extra charge. I don’t know if what type of cow the earlier steaks came from but I was told that these new steaks were Angus. The owner also told me that the meat was aged for 15 days in his locker. They looked good and I was looking forward to tasting one. I took them home and put them in the freezer

A few days later I decided to take one rib eye out and see how I liked it. I knew that a wood fire would give me the best flavor so I went into the forest across from the house and brought back enough wood to do the job. I took the steak out of the freezer  to let it get to room temperature since I read that it cooked up better that way. I also put a coat of olive oil on all the surfaces and flavored it with some garlic salt and Nature’s Seasoning. The fire had burned down to coals so I got the steak and proceeded with the grilling.I cooked it for about 6 minutes  before flipping and only a few minutes later removed it from the heat.

At the table the first cut showed me that I had a steak that was more tender than the one I had cooked months earlier. The flavor was excellent and while not quite as tender as some of the steaks I’ve had in the states it was still VERY good and a pleasure to eat. Kris was having fish that night but  agreed that the pieces I gave her were quite good indeed.

I have a link to my earlier post in case the location of Su Carne is of interest.

https://findingmyselfinpanama.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/su-carne-the-place-to-buy-rib-eye-steak-in-david/

The owner speaks some English but  called up his brother who speaks great English to let me talk to him and make sure I was getting what I wanted. I handed the phone back to the owner and got what I wanted with no problem.

Oh, by the way, his brother was in the states at the time of the call! Calling the US to get an order straight? Darn good service, I’d say!

Later,

j

List of views from 80+ countries that have visitors to my blog

I thought I’d cut and paste the list of countries and views that is in my summary page. It always is interesting to see what country a blog visitor is from. I’m not surprised at the US and Canadian number of views but I do scratch my head at some of the total view of some of the other countries. Love the different flags!

I thank the viewers wherever they may be from and hope they enjoyed the blog.

Later,

j

Country	Views
United States	7,560
Panama	2,946
Canada	1,942
United Kingdom	168
Spain	94
Germany	74
Costa Rica	64
Ecuador	63
Virgin Islands	60
Mexico	45
Brazil	41
Australia	41
Switzerland	36
Belgium	31
Bahamas	26
Italy	24
Netherlands	24
India	23
Austria	19
Thailand	19
Philippines	19
Poland	18
Romania	16
Colombia	16
Barbados	14
France	13
Guadeloupe	12
Sweden	10
Pakistan	9
Nicaragua	9
Trinidad and Tobago	9
Greece	8
South Africa	8
Turkey	8
Ireland	8
Belize	7
United Arab Emirates	7
Jamaica	6
Mauritius	5
Saudi Arabia	5
Russian Federation	4
Haiti	4
Cambodia	4
Dominican Republic	4
Hungary	4
Puerto Rico	3
Venezuela	3
Japan	3
Hong Kong	3
Bulgaria	3
Chile	3
Finland	3
Israel	2
Indonesia	2
Kuwait	2
Saint Lucia	2
Lebanon	2
Kenya	2
Sri Lanka	2
Morocco	2
Czech Republic	2
Argentina	1
Guyana	1
Denmark	1
Croatia	1
Luxembourg	1
Nigeria	1
Egypt	1
Mozambique	1
Cayman Islands	1
Slovenia	1
Fiji	1
Moldova	1
Guatemala	1
Ethiopia	1
Bermuda	1
Portugal	1
Taiwan	1
Republic of Korea	1
Jordan	1
Peru	1
New Zeala

How long must you stay out of Panama to reset your visa???

This question has many different answers and the most frequent one I’ve heard of lately is  24 hours, from various close friends Holly’s Blog  – Cindy who were kept from re-entering Panama recently. Our last experience was of the “in and out the same day” type and quite unlike our friend’s experiences. And now the local forums have threads regarding the issue and what to do.

So what’s the low down, the skinny? I did some internet research and found precious little to go on until I stumbled onto an old and interesting (to me) article from Don Winner at  The Panama Guide.

————————————————————————————————————

From Don Winner, circa 2011 entitled : The Panama Perpetual Tourist Border Hop Two Step – Separating Fact From Fiction

Snap Quiz (No Cheating…) How long do you have to stay in Costa Rica when you exit the country in order to reset your tourist visa status? Almost everyone is going to say “72 hours” – because that has become standard practice. Most of the people who go across the border stay out of Panama for at least 72 hours. Well, I checked the law – it’s not in there. No where is there any requirement to remain out of Panama for 72 hours. And in addition there is no time period specified at all, be it 72, 48, or 24 hours. This was a complete and total shock to me. I was sure I “knew” this one. Nope, wrong, it’s not there.”…….Panamanian authorities can do whatever they hell they want at practically any time.”

More from the same article….

“Immigration Is Heavy On “Common Practice” I bounced all of this off of Carlos Neuman, a long time friend of mine and an attorney with the Panama Relocation Attorneys. He explained that Immigration is “heavy on common practice.” He explained how they always require some documents when processing Pensionado (retiree) visas, for example, that are not required in the law. He said the 72 hour waiting period in Costa Rica is one of those things have become a “common practice” for immigration border inspectors, and all it would take is for a single inspector to decide that you’re not doing the right thing, and he can refuse entry. So just because something is not specifically in the law, does not mean it won’t come up.

————————————————————————————————————————–

The article was written in 2011. That was then, this is now….What should a person do???? I think I’ve figured out the best plan for us………………

“Go with the flow.” Relax, smile, don’t fight City Hall. Yup, that’ll work for us!

Kris and I are planning to stay a night or two in Costa Rica at a nice little place that a friend recommended. That way we make the inspectors happy and get a mini vacation at the same time! That is, unless the inspectors decide to change the time limit requirement again. I just remember to smile and keep on saying, “This is Panama”!!!

If you are going to make the hop soon, let me know how things worked out for you.  And good luck!

Later,

j